Television moves fast. Shows come and go, usually disappearing into the digital ether of streaming libraries, but some stick in the collective memory for all the wrong reasons. The Dads 2013 TV series is one of those shows. You might remember the headlines. People were genuinely angry before the pilot even aired. It wasn’t just a "bad" show; it became a lightning rod for a specific type of cultural conversation about what belongs on network TV.
Honestly, if you look at the pedigree, it should have been a massive hit. You had Seth MacFarlane producing. You had Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild, the minds behind Ted, running the show. Then you look at the cast: Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi. These aren't just "some guys"—they are heavy hitters. But the show crashed. Hard.
The Premise That Started a Firestorm
The setup was simple enough. Two successful video game developers, Eli and Warner, have their lives turned upside down when their nightmare fathers move in. It’s a classic "odd couple" dynamic doubled up. Martin Mull and Peter Riegert played the dads, and on paper, that is a comedic dream team. Mull has that dry, midwestern cynicism down to a science, and Riegert is a legend from Animal House and The Sopranos.
But here is where things went sideways.
The humor wasn't just edgy; it was aggressive. It leaned heavily on racial stereotypes and "old man" bigotry that felt dated even in 2013. During the Television Critics Association press tour, reporters were actually confrontational. They asked the producers why the show relied on jokes about "oriental" people and why it felt so mean-spirited. The creators defended it as "character-driven" humor, arguing that the show was satirizing the dads' outdated views, not endorsing them. The audience didn't really see it that way.
Critics Hated It, and They Weren't Quiet About It
The reviews were brutal. Rotten Tomatoes currently has the show sitting at a 0% critic score. That is incredibly hard to do. Even objectively terrible shows usually find one or two critics who find something to like. Not this one.
Variety’s Brian Lowry called it "reprehensible."
The Hollywood Reporter was equally dismissive. The consensus wasn't just that it was offensive, but that it was unfunny. That’s the death knell for a sitcom. You can get away with being offensive if you’re making people laugh—look at Family Guy or South Park—but when the punchlines land with a thud, the audience just sees the ugliness. It felt like a multi-cam sitcom from 1994 that had been sitting in a vault getting moldy.
The pacing felt off. The laugh track was intrusive.
Seth Green, who is usually the most likable guy in any room, felt trapped in a character that was essentially just "annoyed guy." Ribisi, a brilliant character actor, felt out of place in the broad, slapstick world of a Fox Tuesday night lineup. It was a weird mix of high-level talent and low-brow execution.
Behind the Scenes at Fox
Fox actually believed in this show, or at least they acted like it. They gave it a full-season order of 22 episodes despite the initial backlash. That’s a massive commitment for a show that was getting hammered by advocacy groups. The Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) specifically called out a scene where Brenda Song’s character had to dress up as a "sexy schoolgirl" to appease Chinese businessmen. It was a mess.
The ratings started okay—thanks to a massive marketing push—but they cratered quickly. By the time the show reached the halfway point of the season, the audience had shrunk significantly.
Interestingly, despite the "0%" rating, if you look at user scores, they are often higher. There is a subset of viewers who felt the show was unfairly maligned by "PC culture." They saw it as a throwback to a time when sitcoms weren't afraid to be crude. But even that core audience couldn't save the Dads 2013 TV series from the inevitable. Fox cancelled it after just one season.
The Cast and What Happened Next
It’s fascinating to see where everyone went after this.
- Seth Green stayed busy with Robot Chicken, obviously.
- Giovanni Ribisi moved on to Sneaky Pete, proving he’s much better suited for gritty drama and complex comedy than setup-punchline sitcoms.
- Brenda Song eventually landed on Dollface and found projects that actually utilized her comedic timing without the weird baggage.
- Vanessa Lachey became a staple of the NCIS franchise and reality TV hosting.
The show remains a footnote in their careers. If you watch an interview with these actors today, they rarely bring it up. It’s the "Voldemort" of their filmographies.
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Why the Dads 2013 TV Series Failed
It wasn't just the "offensive" jokes. Television history is full of successful shows featuring bigoted characters—All in the Family is the gold standard. The difference is that Archie Bunker was the butt of the joke. In the Dads 2013 TV series, the line was blurry. Sometimes it felt like the show was laughing with the dads rather than at them.
Also, the "Multi-Cam" format was dying.
In 2013, people were moving toward single-camera shows like Modern Family, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The traditional stage-play feel of Dads, complete with the bright lighting and the pauses for laughter, felt prehistoric. It didn't have the heart of New Girl, which was its lead-in at the time. The tonal shift between Jess Day’s "adorkable" antics and the cynical, biting humor of Dads was jarring for anyone sitting through the whole block.
How to Watch It Now (If You Really Want To)
Finding the show today isn't as easy as you'd think. While most Fox shows end up on Hulu or Disney+, Dads has a tendency to disappear. You can occasionally find it on digital storefronts like Amazon or Vudu for purchase, but it’s rarely featured on a major streaming subscription home page.
It exists mostly as a case study for film students and TV historians. It’s a lesson in "The MacFarlane Effect"—the idea that his name alone could sell a show, regardless of the content. It turns out, that only works if the writing matches the brand's sharpest moments.
Moving Forward: Lessons from the Fallout
If you are a fan of TV history or someone interested in the evolution of sitcoms, there are better ways to spend your time, but Dads provides a unique look at a transition period in media.
- Check out "The Comedians" on FX if you want to see a more successful version of "unlikeable" people being funny.
- Compare it to "The Cool Kids", another Fox show featuring older protagonists that managed to find a more balanced tone.
- Research the 2013 TCA Press Tour transcripts. Reading the actual back-and-forth between the creators and the press is more entertaining than the show itself. It’s a masterclass in PR spin.
The Dads 2013 TV series serves as a reminder that talent and money don't always equal quality. Sometimes, a project is just a mismatch of era, tone, and format. It’s a relic of a very specific moment in the early 2010s when network TV was desperately trying to figure out how to be "edgy" in a world that was rapidly changing. If you do decide to track it down, watch it as a time capsule. It’s a glimpse into what happens when the "bad boy" energy of late-night animation tries to play nice in the 8:00 PM primetime slot. It rarely ends well.